Your telegram D.517 Saving. International Meetings.

As you know we fully appreciate the dollar and manpower
difficulties involved in this matter and we entirely agree that
only those international meetings should be held which are
important from the point of view of achieving world security or
economic and social reconstruction.

2. Accordingly we support your proposal to postpone Items 7 to 14
[1], inclusive, except perhaps item9 [2], and for the reduction
from three meetings to two meetings in the case of Items 1 and 2
[3]

3. With regard to Items 3-6 inclusive [4], however, we feel that
your proposed reductions would detract from the efficient working
of the United Nations-an objective on which we place over-riding
importance. The Economic and Social Council will be quite unable
to function as intended unless it has before it reports from its
more important commissions. If none of the commissions is to meet
more than once a year there will be little point, unless the
Secretariat is expanded and works much more efficiently, in the
Council itself meeting more than once. Moreover the direction of
the work of the Secretariat will suffer. A reduction of commission
work would only seem possible if the Council itself assumed
responsibility for such work and met during much longer session if
not continuously.

4. For the time being at any rate we are committed to every
endeavour to make the United Nations work, and its cost is a
relatively very small investment. You will already know that the
reaction of the Soviet Union to the United Kingdom proposal that
those who are prepared to support an increased Budget should pay
for it, has been their refusal to contemplate sharing the cost of
the new Balkans Commission. This sort of precedent we regard as
most unfortunate. Indeed it is in direct breach of Article 17 of
the Charter.

5. We would appreciate further consideration being given to the
proposals to cut down the work of the Organization in respect of
Items 3 to 6, inclusive. [5]

6. We are in entire agreement with your paragraph 3. [6]